Downtown theater study could be worthwhile

OUR OPINION:

Decades ago, movie theaters were among the businesses that helped anchor many U.S. downtowns.

More recently, though, quite a few cinema operators have shifted their focus to suburban locations, where space for multi-screen venues and line-of-sight parking is more plentiful.

That’s not to say the appeal of downtown theaters has faded away for good. Around the state, many communities have seen pushes to restore historic downtown movie houses in recent years — including Traverse City, where the Traverse City Film Festival organization revived the State Theatre as a volunteer-staffed venue for art films.

In Petoskey, numerous downtown merchants lamented the 2002 closing of the Gaslight Cinema, the central business district’s last movie theater, and the loss of the business traffic it generated. Downtown officials have continued to hear from businesspeople who believe a movie venue would be an asset for the city’s commercial core, and recently decided to pursue a study to find out whether this sort of theater could be a viable business venture downtown.

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We’d encourage them to seek out consultant help as proposed, and explore the possibilities. Along the way, we hope other concerns relating to downtown vitality are taken into account.

The Downtown Management Board recently decided to accept a $10,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Rural Business Enterprise Grants program to help fund a movie theater feasibility study. The board also agreed to provide a local matching contribution — with a likely value in the $12,000 range — toward the effort.

The feasibility study would be used to determine the need and potential profitability for a movie theater, and could lead to the development of a business plan for one. With a variety of tax credits and other economic incentives possibly available for such projects in downtowns, downtown director Becky Goodman noted that consultants involved in the study could help identify and package these to assist an entrepreneur in establishing a theater.

The $22,000 budget for the study would include marketing to draw a potential theater operator, Goodman said. While surplus dollars available in the downtown parking budget could be used toward the local match to the grant, Goodman said in-kind contributions might be another way to fulfill the local requirement.

As discussed at the downtown board’s June meeting, the Petoskey Cinema — which is located in Bear Creek Township and replaced the Gaslight Cinema — already screens first-run movies locally. To be viable, a new downtown theater might need to carve out a unique niche — such as screening art films or offering dinner or bar service along with movie screenings.

Hopefully, the feasibility study can shed light on whether any downtown movie venue would offer promise, and the potential that exists for the market to support it.

Relatively few communities can still boast of a downtown with a retail presence as strong as Petoskey’s, and the business district’s historic flavor helps make it an attractive asset for the community.

Still, the downtown faces an ever-evolving array of competition from outlying and online businesses. We’d be interested to see if potential exists for a movie venue to serve as an additional draw for the area.

At the same time, we hope the exploration of the theater idea takes parking into consideration. While the Gaslight Cinema — which was one of the buildings demolished to make way for the Petoskey Pointe hotel/condominium complex that never materialized — was embraced for the crowds it often drew to downtown, those visitors used some of the same parking spaces that other businesses depend upon.

We’d hope any movie venture that materializes will take parking needs into account when planning its offerings, and that downtown officials keep an eye out for opportunities to expand available parking.

And to boost downtown Petoskey’s appeal as an evening destination, we believe more than just the addition of a movie house will be needed. Relatively few downtown businesses offer evening hours, and the many dark storefronts likely deter some downtown visits during those hours. A movie theater perhaps could help in altering perceptions, but it seems that additional businesses would need to play a part in attracting evening visitors.